Archbishop Loses License for 90 Days for Drunk Driving

LINDSTROM, Minn. — Archbishop John Roach was involved in a minor accident before his arrest on drunk driving charges and had a concentration of alcohol nearly double the requirement for legal intoxication, court records showed Friday.

Roach, of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Roman Catholic Archdiocese and former president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, was arrested Feb. 21 shortly after his car brushed the wall of a convenience store, county records say.

Motor vehicle records show that the concentration of alcohol in Roach's blood measured 0.19%. A person with a blood alcohol content of 0.1% is considered legally drunk in Minnesota.

The Department of Public Safety revoked Roach's license Thursday for 90 days, issuing him a temporary license that allows him to drive "as needed to perform duties as clergy in the diocese between Tuesday and Sunday." The temporary license also allows Roach to drive to and from court-imposed education programs.

Roach, 63, said he has been "humbled and overwhelmed by the personal expressions of support he's received by mail and through phone calls," archdiocesan communications director Joan Burnet said.